At the sound of the beep
by Rosedreams
Summary: Sometimes you need a wake-up call. Wufei-centric. 1x2, 3x4 5 M


Don't own, but wish I did. This is beta'd by our beloved **bishsticks**  
and dedicated to my beloved lj friends!

* Beep*  
* Kush*  
* Beep*  
* Kush*

Antiseptic.

That's the first sensation I notice upon regaining consciousness.

* Beep*  
* Kush*  
* Beep*  
* Kush*

The next is the incessant beeping and the whirring of machines.

* Beep*  
* Kush*  
* Beep*  
* Kush*

Logic, according to my fuzzy brain, dictates that I am in a hospital. Why, I  
have no idea, and at this time, I couldn't care less.

* Beep*  
* Kush*  
* Beep*  
* Kush*

A low murmuring in the background catches my awareness. Familiar.

* Beep*  
* Kush*  
* Beep*  
* Kush*

Blackness recedes again. A firm pressure is weighing my hand down. The murmuring  
is back again. Quatre…

* Beep*  
* Kush*  
* Beep*  
* Kush*

Darkness comes, and this time, it brings images.

We were "invited" to attend Ms. Relena's Christmas ball. Invited being a loose  
term since Une had decided that our attendance would greatly supplement staff  
security for a politically rife social occasion.

Relena's popularity soared in the years following the Eve Wars and as it rose,  
so did the hate. The radicals and skeptics of the world believe the girl to be  
just that, a foolish idealistic girl who would lead the Earth Sphere and the  
colonies into complete and utter ruin.

I fell in the second category, as I feel she should be more a figurehead than an  
influencing power. I grit my teeth every time Maxwell jokingly refers to her as  
"the Queen of the World" even though she no longer holds that title, but that of  
Ambass…

* Beep*  
* Kush*  
* Beep*  
* Kush*

"Look Wu Fei, your office sent over flowers and gifts. Wasn't that nice of them?  
They all want you to hurry up and get well." Maxwell's words couldn't cover the  
falseness of cheer in his voice. I vaguely wonder what he is doing here instead  
of shadowing Yuy. I also wonder if he knows that he's not doing a very good job  
of hiding his relationship with Yuy. I should tell him…

* Beep*  
* Kush*  
* Beep*  
* Kush*

"Chang, I need you to cover the balconies. There are too many people wandering  
about and I do not trust Peacecrafts personal security." I thought Yuy was going  
to have an aneurism before the evening was through. Apparently, self-important  
bureaucrats believe they are impervious to terrorist attacks and have been  
flaunting security with total disregard. If I were of the mind, I could turn  
them all…

* Beep*  
* Kush*  
* Beep*  
* Kush*

They look good together, I grudgingly admit to myself. I watch as the tall  
brunette leads his blond life partner around the ballroom. As a political and  
social figure himself, Winner is required to make an appearance as an invited  
guest. Barton, ever the loyal shadow, would walk through hell or a field of  
gaudy ball gowns for his lover. His green eyes alert, searching the shadows he  
himself would be hiding in if he were an assassin still…

* Beep*  
* Kush*  
* Beep*  
* Kush*

"He's counting on you to wake up, Chang." Yuy's gruff and uncomfortable voice  
rouses me this time. "Maxwell… Duo… thinks of you as a brother. He… we… *cough*  
would be rather put out if you died now." I could feel a faint touch on my hand.  
If I could smirk, I would, but my face is not obeying my mental commands. Yuy  
didn't do soft and fluffy well. Another thing I should tell him…

* Beep*  
* Kush*  
* Beep*  
* Kush*

A sudden sense of malicious energy brushes me, and I immediately come to  
attention, as it had wandered in the course of the evening. I scan key members  
of our governing party to see if anything is amiss. There! A faint red dot has  
appeared on Relena's forehead. A mere fraction of a second points me to the  
originator of the laser assassin is in the next balcony to me. Without  
further thought, I cross the distance and tackle an inconspicuous figure. We  
grapple for the rifle in his grip before the sensation of falling consumes us,  
then…

* Beep*  
* Kush*  
* Beep*  
* Kush*

Someone is brushing my hair away from my face gently. The fingers are icy cold,  
but soothing. "I'm sorry sirs, but it doesn't look like his body will sustain  
functions if we remove him from life support. The likelihood of him recovering  
is almost nil. As his next of kin, the decision is yours to make, but I advise  
you not to prolong the inevitable…" The words cease to make sense to me as a  
long lost voice whispers in my ear, "Chang. Get your lazy butt up. Do not  
dishonor me with your weakness, boy."

Meiran…

"Do you think you're accomplishing something by just laying there? You're  
hurting a lot of people with your selfishness." A soft huff plays with the wisps  
of loose hair around my ear. "You were always a self-sacrificing bendan." Those  
fingers were back, hesitating as they smoothed my hair back. "It's not time to  
join me yet, so wake up and tell them to turn off that horrid Christmas music.  
It's completely tasteless."

* Beep Beep*  
* Kush*  
* Beep Beep Beep Beep*  
* Kush*

"What the hell!" Hands and voices came at me dizzyingly. My eyes are pried open  
and a bright light shone in them. "Mr. Chang can you hear me?"

Stupid man, as if I can reply with a very large tube down my throat. That cold  
hand found its way into mine and gave a brief squeeze before dissipating. As the  
nursing staff work over me, I mentally say goodbye for now to my wife. I knew  
I'd be seeing her again after living this life to the bittersweet end…

* Beep*  
* Beep*  
* Beep*

I never did tell them to turn off that awful holiday music; instead, it seemed  
to make the room cozier as my friends, the only family I had left, celebrated  
the season of joy with me. The doctor was a bit reluctant to take off the heart  
monitor, but had agreed to let me breathe on my own, and breathe I did. Maxwell…  
Duo and Quatre had snuck in various seasonal foods and bedecked my room as if it  
were a cozy living room instead of a sterile impersonal prison for me.

Presents lined my bed as flowers lined my window. The sheer quantity of well  
wishes was touching to say the least. I was content to lay there and watch my  
family quietly chat around me, smiles easing the grief lines that so recently  
marred their faces. In the privacy of my room, Heero and Duo dropped the guise  
of just friendship and Trowa dropped his guard a fraction.

This, the closeness, was worth living for. It was worth putting up with the  
seasonal insanity, the holiday crowds, and the insane assassins to be able to  
share this with the other four.

I later learned that the assassin was the only casualty of the ball, and that my  
office staff were perverts, attested by the red thong with white fur lining they  
gifted me with.

It was still worth it to be here…


End file.
